A deleted scene from Hawkeye reveals the first meeting of Maya Lopez/Echo and Kazimierczak when they were kids. Marvel Studios’ fourth live-action Disney+ series draws inspiration from Matt Fraction and David Aja’s popular comic, My Life As A Weapon. It follows Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) as he puts his holiday plans on hold after Hawkeye superfan Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) inadvertently attracts the attention Tracksuit Mafia after donning the Ronin costume. The Hawkeye cast also includes Florence Pugh, Tony Dalton, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Linda Cardellini, Alaqua Cox, and Fra Free.

Hawkeye episode 3, “Echoes,” begins with the origin story of Echo (Cox), who succeeded her father as the Tracksuits commander following his death at the hands of Ronin/Clint. In the present day, helping Echo in the hunt for Ronin is her confidant, lieutenant, and personal ASL interpreter Kazi (Free). Kazi reports directly to Hawkeye’s ultimate antagonist, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (D’Onofrio). Later in the series, it’s revealed that Kazi betrayed Echo's father on Kingpin's orders, leading to his murder by Ronin — an act of betrayal that, while seemingly unexplained, leads to a showdown between Echo and Kazi in the Hawkeye finale.

Related: Hawkeye Wasted Its Best Reveal (And Created Echo's Biggest Problem)

Nearly a month after Hawkeye released its final episode on Disney+, a deleted scene (via @hawkeyeaction) from the Echo flashback in episode 3 has been released. After her training session at the Brooklyn Karate Academy, the young Maya (Darnell Besaw) is approached by the young Kazi (Phoenix Crepin) who tells her “my dad works with your dad,” before realizing she is deaf. Maya then teaches her friend sign language in their sweet first encounter. Watch the full deleted scene below:

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Previous MCU shows like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki have not released deleted scenes to the general public. The above scene and a handful of others from Hawkeye that have dropped online mark a first for the MCU on Disney+, which may be the start of a new trend for the studio. Echo and Kazi’s first meeting helps to flesh out their relationship for those that didn’t notice/know the pair had been friends since childhood, making it all the more tragic when Kazi betrays Maya. However, the decision to shift the focus to Kingpin in the series’ final episodes likely contributed to the aforementioned scene’s deletion.

Echo and Kazi’s relationship isn’t awarded closure in Hawkeye. The last audiences saw of Kazi, Echo has just impaled him with an arrow. As she lowers him to the ground he tells her that Kingpin is coming for her, but viewers never actually see him apologize (or, more importantly, die). In Echo’s last scene, she confronts Kingpin and shoots him (off-screen), leaving his fate unknown. Cox’s character will appear next in Disney+’s Echo and, given Maya's storyline with Kingpin in the comics, it seems safe to say her “uncle” will be appearing in that spinoff series as well. It remains to be seen, however, if Kazi will live, tag along and/or explain himself.

More: Hawkeye's Last Minute Villain Change Accidentally Ruined A Perfect Twist

Source: Disney+ (via @hawkeyeaction/Twitter)

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